To inspire girls to explore technology and STEM fields, Girls Who Code partnered with exploration and production company ConocoPhillips to host Girls Talk Tech, on Dec. 5 in the auditorium.

Girls Talk Tech is an organization dedicated to educating, encouraging and empowering women. They host summer camps, visit highschools and lead tours of their facility. In the meeting they discussed overcoming common struggles, such as being taken for granted in the workplace, or feeling having trouble speaking up.

Speakers from Girls Talk Tech shared information about ConocoPhillips and answered students’ questions about the company and career paths in Information Technology. Students who registered for the panel beforehand received free Chick-fil-A.

“I came for the Chick-fil-A but stayed for the speakers,” junior Sarah Rimawi said.

Senior Claire Zhang, who said she’s interested in the STEM field, found the panel helpful and learned about career opportunities within IT.

“I liked how they were willing to help me find out as a high schooler if I wanted to get into IT,” Zhang said. “In that way, I feel like it was really beneficial.”

As part of their mission, the speakers encouraged girls to embrace technology and STEM by persevering in those historically male-dominated fields.

“It was a very audience inclusive event where everybody was able to participate, and the speakers were really welcoming,” Zhang said. “Sometimes I feel like I have a permanent block when it comes to chemistry, where it’s like, ‘I can’t do it,’ so I thought it was very important when the speakers said that you should never undermine your own experiences or opinions whenever you’re in a room full of men.”

President and junior Sara Shen said she wants students to realize anyone can go into IT.

“I hope students were able to learn a lot about the fields and careers in IT,” Shen said. “I do think that they did because there were really great questions being asked, and the speakers gave really great answers.”

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